A story for the class of 2006
by yoo-hoo luver.wlegs
Summary: Kyo, Yuki and Tohru are graduating. And they are dealing with it differently. Kyo and Tohru pairing


**Disclaimer: I don't own fruits basket. If I did I wouldn't write a disclaimer.**

**A/n: This is dedicated to the class of 2006. We made it.**

XX

Shigure's house had been a buzz that day. Hana and Uo had stopped by earlier for the last lunch they would eat as high school students with Tohru. And most of the zodiac members had stopped by to congratulate Tohru and the boys, including the bumbling Ritsu. And yet despite all the visitors, tea brewing and hubbub, there was a quiet calm in the air. Yuki could only describe it as the calm before the storm. He could not place whether or not the butterflies in his stomach were due to the fact that the first day of the rest of his life was starting or the fact that Tohru would be leaving them within the week to start a full time job. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the loud over dramatic voice of his brother.

"YUKI!" Ayame cried waving a fan around, "I can't believe my little brother is graduating tonight! Oh! The thought just brings tears of joy to my eyes. Now we can go into business together, as all brothers should. Caught in the bonds of business and brotherhood forever more!" He grabbed Yuki and pulled the stiff graduate close to him. Ayame then received a bleeding nose. This did not perturb him, though, and he launched into a story of his graduation.

The rat of the zodiac tuned and walked out on the porch where Hatsuharu and Tohru were talking. With a sigh, Yuki sat down next to them.

"Hi, Yuki. Did you get your speech done yet." Tohru greeted. As student council president Yuki was asked to give a speech before the calling of the role; much to his dismay.

"Yes, I finished last night. I'm a bit worried though. Public speaking is not my forte." Yuki replied with a smile he reserved only for her. He had to admit that she always made him feel at ease. Nobody was able to do that before she began living here.

Yuki took an examining look at Tohru. Her chocolate eyes sparkled excitedly and the afternoon breeze raked just enough of her hair in front of her face. She put a comforting and reassuring hand on Yuki's arm as she told him he would do great. Tohru Honda, though a plain girl, was beautiful when she grinned. She was like a beam of sunshine smiling down from above. Yuki could never chart a source to her eternal cheerfulness. But he had found that he dependent on her smile like a strawberry plant depended on the sunshine. Surely with out her living in the house he would shrivel up and die like a plant in a windowless room.

"Oh, the water is boiling." Tohru said jumping up and leaving Yuki and Haru to sit together in the afternoon sunshine.

"I know how you feel." Haru began out of the blue, "The house won't have a warm glow to it with out Tohru." He paused and shook his head, "Will you be moving back to the main house then?"

"I don't know." Yuki replied making up his mind, " But I'm finally going to tell her tonight, after the ceremony. I'm going to say 'I love you'."

"Aw, you shouldn't have! I'm blushing Yuki." Haru joked.

"Not you, Miss Honda. I'm going to tell her I love her."

A smile began to form on Haru's lips and at length he took out a camera. "It's about time. Now lean in. I want to document this moment. Blow a kiss to the camera."

"Your infuriating." Yuki scowled at the cow's shenanigans and walked down the drive. He headed in the direction of his secret base in hopes that he could gather an ounce of mental clarity before the ceremony.

XX

Kyo was never one for an abundance of visitors nor was he one for false sympathy. And so, instead of hanging around the house where everyone was dropping in, Kyo found himself running. He dodged trees, jumped over rocks like hurdles and puffed up hills for six miles. He was not sure where he was but at last stopped on a deserted hill over looking a sea of tree tops. The hill itself was practically barren. Not even scraggily bushes grew on the crest. He leaned against a large boulder to catch his breath. The hill was like him in away. It was shunned by all living things and yet it was surrounded by the beauty of the world but unable to partake in the joy of living.

He had to accept his fate. He could not beat the rat. He lost the bet and now… now he would be locked up until the day he died. And it was all because of that damned Yuki. He would never be part of the family, just like the hill would never be covered with vegetation. The anger Tohru had quelled began bubbling up inside of him like a volcano ready to burst. After tonight he would never see her again. He would be confined like some side show freak until his flesh rotted. He did not know if the fact that he would never belong or the thought of never again hearing Tohru say cheerfully, 'Good morning, Kyo.' bugged him more.

But it didn't matter. No.

"It's all that damned rat's fault!" Kyo yelled to the unbiased trees, "It's all Yuki's fault! When I get home I'm going to pound-" He paused mid rant when something at the base of the hill caught his eye. Curious, Kyo ran down to figure out what it was. He had descended halfway when he reached it, a scraggily little seedling growing on the barren harsh soil. The sorry thing had but a twig of a trunk and two branches in which two small maple leaves sat being tugged by the wind. Kyo bent down and couldn't banish the thought that Charlie Brown's Christmas tree looked better than this one did.

A small smile spread across his lips. 'Charlie Brown's Christmas' was a favorite movie of Tohru's. She had told him it was tradition that she and her mom watched the movie in New Years. At first he had laughed at the idea and after much grumbling he sat down and watched it with her. It was all worth it to see her laugh. And when she began to dance like the cartoon characters, Kyo was taken. That was when he knew he loved her.

Kyo gazed at the tree for a while. It was foolish to take root here. But from the deep red of the leaves, Kyo could tell it was thriving. There was hope for the hill. Soon it would be covered with trees bushes and the like. Perhaps there was hope for him too.

Kyo closed his eyes and recalled the first time Tohru had climbed up to the roof just to give him a snack. The moon had cast a glow on her that made her shine and her voice seemed to flatten his raised fur.

Yes, there was hope for him.

With a quick glance and smile at the seedling, Kyo sprinted up the hill and in the direction of Shigure's house. He wasn't sure what would meet him after he had his diploma in hand but he wasn't going to go through it alone.

A thought began to repeat itself in his mind and soon fell in rhythm with his stride:

There is hope.

XX

Tohru put on the last adjustment to her outfit as she looked into the mirror. It was a string of little pearls that her father had given her mother on their wedding day. The clasp clicked into place with ease. Before putting on her graduation gown, Tohru admired the only piece of finery she owned. The necklace sat draped across her neck and sat softly on her collar bone. She was surprised to see that the necklace looked so natural on her; like it belonged around her neck. As a toddler, Tohru could recall the necklace never left Kyoko's neck. That is, until her father had died. After the funeral, Kyoko had placed it in her jewelry box and left it there. Tohru could remember lifting the lid and admiring the stark white of the pearls on the blue velvet. She never dared try it on but would imagine all of her macaroni necklaces were the string of pearls. She used to dream of the day where she could feel the coolness of the beads around her neck. And now that that day had come she felt an overwhelming guilt and sadness. The string of pearls that she had so loved now felt heavy on her as she wished that the pearls' real owner, her mother, was wearing them instead of her. A tear streaked down her cheek as she zipped up the gown and put the square hat on her head.

She wiped it away before turning to her mother's picture. She couldn't let her mother see her cry.

"Well Mom," She began aloud, "This is it. I'm graduating high school. Our dream is coming true; we made it. I'm so proud of myself. And I-" Her voice began to break as unsummoned tears began to surface. Doggedly Tohru chocked out 'I know you are ten time as proud.' before the tears began to flow like a river and Tohru found herself on the floor sobbing with Kyoko's photo in hand.

"Why did you have to go?" She whispered as a tear plunked on the glass over Kyoko's face. It expanded where it landed and enlarged her face like a magnified glass. "I'm not ready, there is still so much I need to know, Mom. I-I can't do this with out you." She paused as someone knocked on the door. Out of instinct, she whipped the tears of her face and said in a small voice, "Come in,"

She was expecting Uo or Hana or perhaps even Momiji to enter. But when Kyo entered into her room, out of breath she couldn't help but be surprised.

"K-Kyo-kun!" She greeted as she jumped five feet into the air, "I didn't hear you coming. Why are you all sweaty? We leave in forty-five minutes for the school."

"I was running." He explained but paused, eyebrow raised. "Tohru, why are you on the floor in your cap and gown?"

"Oh! Well I was scrubbing the floor. It's so dirty." Tohru lied, saying the first thing that came to her mind. She put on her cheeriest smile, a smile she wore when she was trying to hide her pain.

"Scrubbing?"

Tohru nodded and moved her palms across the floor in a scrubbing motion while singing, "Yes, scub a bub-dub, the cat and the fiddle, the cow-" Kyo cut her off by kneeling down next to her.

"You know, you don't have to pretend with me. Let it out, scream if you have to, just don't keep it bottled up. And it's 'Hey diddle diddle', not scrub a bub-dub.'"

"What makes you think I'm bottling something up?" Tohru questioned.

"You're scrubbing a carpet, first off. And secondly, you don't have water or a scrub brush." Kyo was really close to her by now, so close Tohru could smell the woods on his clothes. Though he didn't say it, his eyes assured her she could confide in him.

A stray tear rolled down her cheek as she looked down at her mother's picture.

"There were times when I just didn't want to finish high school." Tohru began, "But Mom always told me she never finished middle school. She wanted me to graduate, no only so I could have a better life but so that I could tell her how it feels to hold that diploma.

You know, even though she never made it to high school, Mom was the wisest person I knew. When ever I had a problem she would give me the advise and will to pull through it. After she died, I tried to keep her memory alive by remembering her advice. But I was putting on my cap and gown and I just realized I could not think of a single wise word from her to help me.

Kyo, I'm scared, I'm scared to leave here. I feel that I'm walking away from high school knowing nothing. We're all going our separate ways and I just feel so small in this big world…we're not kids anymore…and I'm afraid I can never live up to what Mom was."

"You already have." Kyo whispered, "Kyoko changed the lives of everyone she met and so do you. Look what you did in this house, in this family. Kisa would have never talked if it wasn't for you. Look, I told you I'm not good at words but Tohru, you're everything to us. You're everything to me."

Tohru looked at him straight in the eyes. "Do you mean that?"

"Would I lie to you? Let's get you off the floor, you look ridiculous pretending to scrub." Kyo asked standing up and then in turn offering his hand to her. She didn't have to reply; they both knew the answer. Tohru stood up and gave Kyo a smile that hid nothing.

"And… as far as moving on and graduating goes, a wise woman once said, 'Life is like fertilizer. It's shit, but it helps you grow."

"Mom said that." Tohru mumbled as Kyo walked to the open door. It was then Tohru realized all that the cat said and called to stop him from leaving. He paused and Tohru walked up to him in a few strides.

"Kyo, you mean everything to me too." She said, blushing from toe to hair line. And then before he could reply the housekeeper kissed him softly on the lips.

Yuki, who was walking down the hall to the bathroom leaned against the wall after he passed Tohru's room. He had saw the whole thing and for once, just that one time, the cat had beaten him.

XX

**All done review congrats grads! Gotta run. I'm graduating in less than two hours… review please.**


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